Patti Kauntika
In later eras, the Bactrians can upgrade their Warriors into Patti Kauntika — spear infantry levied from Indian kingdoms to the farthest south. These units, while not particularly powerful, are still probably more useful than any other faction's spear levy units owing to their fast speed and fairly high robustness, being substantially better than most Warriors or Spear Levy. Their only problem is that they cost Food, Wealth and Influence — but the fact that you can afford to raise many of these units in vast quantities at a faster rate than your non-Bactrian opponents now means that you can easily set yourself up for a boom/rush strategy, using these units as a form of escort unit for flooding your foes. See also *Warriors *Spear Levy *''Hoplitai Haploi'' Background The bulk of the Indian army, and most other armies in the world, were the infantry, or foot soldiers. The infantry were equipped with a huge variety of weapons, which differed hugely across India. Probably the most common weapon was the sword, but even this came in hundreds of shapes across India. Indian archers used a bow similar to the English longbow, in that it was as tall as the person using it. However, Indian bows were also recurved. Armies in India were typically larger than those of Europe. It was common to see armies of hundreds of thousands fighting on the battlefield, even thought the kingdoms themselves might be small in size. As infantry formed the majority of the army, a typical battle would look like a sea of infantry and cavalry fighting, while the chariots and elephants stood out. India was one of the first nations to implement tactics, divisions, and formations. Indian armies of this period had within them a basic unit called the patti, a mixed platoon comprising one elephant carrying three archers or spearman and a mahout, three horse cavalrymen armed with javelins, round buckler, and spear, and five infantry soldiers armed with shield and broadsword or bow. This twelve-man unit when assembled in three units formed a senamukha, or “company.” Three of these formed together comprised a gulma, or “battalion.” Units were added in multiples of three, forming an aksauhini, or “army,” comprised of 21,870 patti. Sources also speak of military units formed around multiples of ten, and there were no doubt units of single arms that could be employed individually or in concert with other arms. The Arthasastra mentions a unit called the samavyuha, or “battle array,” that was about the size of a Roman legion (5,000 men). This unit comprised five subunits joined together, each subunit containing 45 chariots, 45 elephants, 225 cavalry, and 675 infantrymen each. It goes without saying that managing such units in battle required a high degree of tactical sophistication. Armies did not simply rush out onto the battlefield; there were commanders who carefully put their massive armies in intricate formations. Some formations were: Chakra (wheel) Vyuha, Suchi (needle) Vyuha, Chayana (hawk) Vyuha and Mala (garland), and Garuda (eagle). Their armor differed greatly as well. Some kingdoms, especially in south India wore no armor, because of the extreme heat. Others wore tough sturdy armor, made of interlocking iron, steel, and leather plates. Many warriors wore no armor, but instead wore silk clothing. This actually worked to block arrows, which couldn’t penetrate the silk fibers. Ancient India has been home to many unique weapons. The world’s first all steel bow was made in India. Some other weapons from the subcontinent are the famous kukri knife, the tiger claw weapon used by assassins, tridents, the long handled mace, swords, axes, and spears of all shapes and sizes. References *''Weapons and Warfare''; The Mauryan Empire Military |Spear Levy icon for desert factions Spears iran.png|Spear Levy icon for Eastern factions Spears barba.png|Spear Levy icon for European factions Spears spain.png|Spear Levy icon for Celtiberian factions warrior_arm_camoe.png|Armenian warrior 1 warrior_arm2_cameo.png|Armenian warrior 2 Background Outside the ambit of the civilisations of the Near East and eastern Mediterranean, most people continued to live in tribalised societies in intense competition with one another. Whether pastoralist, agrarian or urbanised (like some of the peoples of Spain or the Middle East) bloodshed was a way of life, and every shepherd or free man was obliged to serve when the summons came from the local strongman to march out and slay the foe. Category:Sarmatians Category:Armenians Category:Arverni Category:Britons Category:Spear infantryCategory:light infantry Category:Bactrians Category:Mercenaries Category:Saka Category:Spear infantry